iPods store various information in what are called, "iTunesDB files". Despite the name, these are not "real" database (eg Postgres) files, but, instead binary files.
There are several types of iTunesDB files, but their purpose is mostly centered around storing information for what kind of media (photos, videos) is on that device, and information attached to that media.
(To add to the confusion, there is also a specific file itself called "iTunesDB".)
The format for iTunesDB files was reverse-engineered by the iPod Linux team. The documentation for them is here: http://www.ipodlinux.org/ITunesDB
This repository contains a parser/extractor for iTunesDB files, written in Rust. The parser is located in the parser directory.
The table below shows which iTunesDB files are supported.
| File type | Supported? |
|---|---|
| Artwork DB | ❎ Not yet supported |
| DeviceInfo | ❎ Not yet supported |
| Equalizer Presets | ❎ Not yet supported |
| On The Go Playlist | ❎ Not yet supported |
| Photo Database | ✔️ Can extract all associated metadata of images |
| PhotoFolderAlbums | Partial - only can detect the # of photo albums |
| PhotoFolderPrefs | No support planned. |
| PhotosFolderName | ❎ Not yet supported |
| Play Counts | ✔️ |
| Preferences | ✔️ |
| WABContactsGroup | ❎ Not yet supported |
| iEKInfo | ❎ Not yet supported |
| iTunesDB | Partial - Songs and Podcasts only. No television or movies |
| iTunesPState | ❎ Not yet supported |
| iTunesPlaylists | ❔ Not documented yet |
| iTunesPodcasts | ❔ Not documented yet |
| iTunesPrefs | ✔️ |
| iTunesSD | ❎ Not yet supported |
| iTunesStats | ❎ Not yet supported |
| iTunesVideoPlaylists | ❔ Not documented yet |
| winPrefs | ❔ Not documented yet |
In examining your iPod's file system you'll find other types of files besides the one listed above. These are:
-
alarmsfiles: #6 -
.itdbfiles, which are just SQLite 3 databases with a different extension.
Because iPodLinux isn't maintained anymore, I was worried that the website (and thus the iTunesDB wiki) would be taken down at some point, so I downloaded the documentation.
Both the original website, and a markdown-formatted version are in the itunesdb_docs folder.
The parser is written in Rust. You can build it by running cargo build.
It requires two arguments:
(1) the iTunesDB filename,
(2) the type of iTunesDB file.
Possible options are:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| "photo" | Photos Database files, no iThmb files |
| "itunes" | iTunes DB (music and podcasts only) file |
| "itprefs" | iTunes Preferences file |
| "playcounts" | Playcounts file |
| "pfalbums" | Photo Folder Albums |
| "preferences" | Preferences file |
$ /target/debug/itunesdb_parser <path-to-itunesdb-file> '<type>'For iTunesDB, Photos Database, and Playcounts files, a CSV will be generated with all the relevant information. For example, if you run it on an iTunesDB file, the output CSV will contain the info for all songs and podcasts mentioned in the iTunesDB file.
If you run it on a Photo Database file, you'll see the list of all images stored on that iPod.
This project is a very early work-in-progress. The next major feature to come is iThumb file decoding
If you have any iTunesDB files from the unsupported list and are willing to share, please contact me.
Special thanks to @AZProductions for providing an iTunesDB file.